dual blade

not so good for tank is it? lacks knock backs, and knock backs (though sometimes annoying) are good for a breather, if you have a weak heal or overly tough dps for a level 50?

actually, dual blade is a good choice if you want your tanker to be a killing machine.
Sure, it has very little knockback but if their dead, it doesn't matter.

Vengleful Slice also provides knockdown, and is a fun attack.

I quite enjoy my Inv/DB tanker. The damage is respectable, the animations are nice, and the combos add an interesting element to the set, if you choose to use them. As a Superstrength junkie, I do enjoy Blinding Feint as opposed to Rage. It's a nice change of pace. I'm looking forward to picking up the final two attacks and trying them out. I feel trying everything in a set is still the best way to learn. Being told what's good or bad is alright, but learning for yourself is really the way to go. Especially nowadays when free respecs fall from the sky every five minutes.

I just unlocked the red cap daggers and am looking forward to incorporating them into a new costume.

To recap this short, rambling post: DB is a good secondary for tankers with decent damage, and does provide KD mitigation from a few sources.

thanks for the replies. I just got the power unstoppable. seems really harsh for only 3 minutes and then u go all the way down in end and hp...

seems a harsh drawback for being the final power that gives you the 90% resist like the other tanks.

i been power leveling characters using ae to try and find the best one for me.

prolly went a little further into some than i should have once i realised it isnt the strongest. or suited to my play style.

i think group knock back attacks are great for the tank.

I would chime in and agree that DB is very much an AOE strong set. You do have to wait until 35 for this to start to shine, but Attack Vitals and Sweep make you a monster for AOE. Running solo feels really silly at that point, as you can't make use of all your AOEs, heh. I16 should be nice for that.

Most of the attacks also have 2-3 ticks, so you can be "fooled" into thinking you're not doing as much damage as you are. There is something satisfying about one solid chunk at a time, like with Mace, but DB is respectable for ST damage, and great for AOE.

Would a Fire/DB tank be worthwhile?

I've been wanting to make one but the end drain worries me...

End drain? From what? Foes? Attacks? Consume and building your hero right will make things just fine. Most primaries combined with DB don't have an end recovery tool, so you'll be just fine, I would say.

From attacks and drains from the fire aura primary. I have been told that it's fairly end heavy...not so?

The individual Dual Blades attacks aren't END-hungry, but it's a quick set, and spamming the attacks can tire you out. In fact, you have to launch a series of attacks to activate the combos.

Tips from my experience include that you don't have to launch every segment of a combo against the same target, so that could be a bonus for a gauntlet-savvy tank. However, the set is DOT-ish, so you may end up twirling in the air long after your team's burst damage has dispatched the enemy.

Good luck!

Great! Thanks for the info, guys.

I have a couple of DB Scrappers so I'm familiar with how it works...I was really just worried about the FA primary. I think I'll give it a shot. I might post a build on here in the next day or two so I can get some opinions.

Thanks again!

Blazing Aura is also the most damaging aura available to tankers. Over time, it puts out very impressive amounts of damage, saving you endurance since you don't need an extra attack or two on each enemy.

My FA builds tend to go for high recharge to capitalize on Healing Flames, Consume, and Fiery Embrace. I've toyed with FA/DB a few times, and really like the feel of the combo. Vahzilok and other undead are like butter. Also, because FA gets its Stun/Disorient resistance in its first toggle, the set is ideal for sewer teams. Stun res, coupled with the toxic res in HF and you've got a decently solid sewer team tanker.

My Fire/Stone tanker solo'd the Faultline EB's, and then tanked them as AV's for teams, and I've heard of Fire tanks handling the various high end TF's, so Fire can handle general tanking duties. The lack of defense hurts, but it also makes it easier to see when defeat is coming since health gets knocked off at a steady pace, rather than the 'good, good, still good, dammit' pace defense sets have.

Play to your strengths, learn the set inside and out, and you'll be a mean s.o.b.

so finally fully slotted im in the 90's tanking fine.

also using my sweep combos now. love em. good knock back. its a bit end hungry.

would you suggest 3 damage, 2 recharge and 1 endurance reduction on my attacks?

i have stamina slotted well too.

whats the best I can do on cold/fire/energy etc resists? right now they are at 30 ish resist. but i havent fully slotted them.

someone told me to get rid of resist elements all together as an invul. and that i can get 90's smashing and lethal without tough so take that out too.

do I need protection from those other types of attacks? i went in a mission with energy attacks i think and i got owned of course. but if i cant get it higher than 30's , im still gonna get owned.

am I doing something wrong? were tanks only meant to awesomely tank smashing / lethal?

First the bad news; 30-35% resistance to E/NE/F/C is all you're going to get with Invul without set bonuses.

Also, I don't know who told you that you don't need Tough to cap S/L resistance, but that's flat-out not true. You need TI, UY, RPD and Tough to reach the 90% cap.

The good news is that Invul doesn't rely solely on resistance for damage mitigation; it also has a +HP power (Dull Pain) and two defense powers (Invinc and Tough Hide) that together provide significant protection against non-S/L damage types except Psi.

What most Invul tanks do to be tougher is to take Tough and Weave, and to slot for IO defense bonuses. The nice thing about using defense against exotic damage is that if there is a combo attack, say smashing/fire, whether the attack hits is determined by the highest typed defense that applies to that attack. Because of that, you can get substantial protection from most attacks without getting needing your defense to all damage types to be super-high.

Hope that helps!

having alot of fun as a tank. i like leading teams and being up front and centre, and doing/taking the damage.

i tried my blaster again today and really realise how I hate sitting back.

So ... has anyone come up with a good break down for this yet? I am highly interested since I am starting a Fire/DB Tanker up.

~Saint